The first time I came to Japan was when I was 14.
I went to a small town in Toyama prefecture called, Toide.
It sounded a lot like “toire,” the word for “toilet.” (astute observations by a 14 yr old)
Despite its name, it was a quiet, clean place where it seemed as if absolutely nothing happened.
The thing that shocked me the most in the one month that I stayed there with my host family was the breakfast.
Every morning at about 5:00 am, my host mother would get up and come to the kitchen to start cooking.
It seemed insane to me, because not only was she preparing breakfast, but she was also cooking up bento boxed-lunches for the family. In my house, in the US, breakfast was toast…and maybe eggs, maybe. That was if you had the initiative to cook them for yourself, or if my mom was in a good mood.
Our lunches were bags with a turkey sandwich, juice, apple sauce, and maybe a few small cookies. We usually packed this ourselves. The prep time was approximately 5-7 mins.
But in my host family’s house it was different. Every morning I woke up to a home-cooked, multi-plated breakfast of fish, rice, soup and sometimes maybe more. I cannot say I was not overjoyed at it.
I was told that this is a typical Japanese breakfast.
This ruined all my preconceptions of the toast-in-her-mouth, late-to -school-anime girl.
Anime girl should have grilled fish in her mouth!
After leaving my host family, I visited a friend in Osaka. I told her about how awesome I thought Japanese breakfasts were and she told me she just eats toast…
Anyway, onto breakfast vocab:
Natto - Fermented soybean gloop - Pungent and gloopy, they put people off at first. You can eat it with spicy mustard, as is, or on top of rice or toast.
To many people, this is a breakfast must-have. I actually don’t mind it…if I plug up my nose when eating.
Tamago Yaki - omelette - This can also be referred to as a “dashi-maki tamago.” Dashi is broth used in Japanese cooking. You make this type of omelette in a special pan, turning the egg, and slowly making layers. ”Maki” should be familiar to sushi fans, because it means “roll.”
Ajitsuke Nori- flavored seaweed - It is crunchy and delightful. “Nori” means “seaweed,” and “ajitsuke” is “flavored.” ”Aji” by itself is “flavor.”
I could not describe the flavor that they put on ajitsuke nori, even if I wanted to. You will have to eat it for yourself.
Takuan- pickled daikon - breakfast doesn’t have to be takuan. I just am partial to it, and it is a major player in the Japanese pickle world. “Tsukemono” is the term for “pickles,” and there are many varieties.
Miso Shiru - miso soup - I think that miso soup has gotten pretty world-renowned. If you guys are curious about miso, I actually have a blog entry of when I made it from scratch.
Umeboshi- pickled plum - It was too sour and salty for me at first, but I am finally able to eat it now. Umeboshi is generally eaten with rice and plopped in the middle of it to make the Japanese flag.
Yes, the Japanese people feel the need to make their rice nationalistic. Why not?
Sake- salmon - it doesn’t need to be salmon, it is just a standard thing to have. “Shake” is another way to refer to salmon. I looked up which one is the “correct” one and there was nothing but lengthy debates on the origins of the two. I am not going to spend time reading through everything so whether you call it “sake” or “shake” is up to you.
Daikon Oroshi- grated daikon - when you grate daikon using a very fine grater you get this nice blob of white mush of raw daikon. If you have ever had a radish, you will know that it has a sharp taste. It is good to eat with fish that has a bit of fat on it, because it cuts the oily taste with a fresh, watery flavor.
Can you name everything now?
